Harrisburg, PA: Today, the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association released its latest Workforce Trends report, finding that while recent job growth in Pennsylvania is outpacing the nation, there is uneven progress in sectors and regions. In our Workforce Trends reports, we found that Pennsylvania’s economy experienced a robust recovery from COVID-19, followed by a historically tight labor market. Job seekers enjoyed atypical leverage in the job market—extremely low unemployment rates, steady month-over-month increases in employment, and job openings that exceeded the number of unemployed workers. Pennsylvania’s local workforce development boards used these dynamics to help reintegrate long-term jobless workers into employment and support low-wage workers to advance.
“The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association’s latest Workforce Trends report shows strong recent job growth in Pennsylvania,” said Lauren Holubec, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association. “But while overall Pennsylvania’s job growth is outpacing the nation, we are seeing uneven success across regions and sectors. We need flexible, localized workforce strategies so that we can target regions and industries with unique interventions, helping them accelerate progress. With a focused workforce development strategy, Pennsylvania can build on its healthy economy and ensure that all Pennsylvanians can build strong, thriving careers in our commonwealth.”
Stronger Overall 12-Month Growth: Pennsylvania jobs grew 1.4 percent in the past year vs. 1.1 percent nationally. Pennsylvania’s leisure and hospitality industry employment jumped more than doubled that nationally (3.5 percent versus 1.5 percent). Our manufacturing sector employment ticked down slightly over the last 12 months. Our construction industry job growth was positive in the previous 12 months, but only about half the 1.3 percent employment increase nationally.
Job Growth Since Pre-Pandemic Lags Nation: The Commonwealth has experienced less than 3 percent employment growth since February 2020, compared to about 5 percent nationally. This small diƯerence is similar but somewhat above the norm for Pennsylvania. (The 20 years before the pandemic illustrate the norm: from January 2000 to February 2020, Pennsylvania non-farm jobs grew 7.6 percent compared to 16.2 percent nationally.)
Uneven Sector Recovery: Education, health, and business services are driving growth, while construction, manufacturing, and government remain below pre-pandemic levels. Leisure and hospitality surged, with job growth more than double the national rate (3.5 percent vs. 1.5 percent) in the past year. Health and social assistance jobs have grown across much of the state, but Medicaid cuts could slow growth in rural areas.
Pennsylvania Construction Job Contraction: Pennsylvania is still one percent below the February 2020 levels, whereas national employment is nine percent above February 2020 levels. Two factors that likely contributed to the large difference between construction employment growth nationally and in Pennsylvania are the phase-down of construction at the Beaver Cracker plant and the fact that federal and private investments in clean energy and manufacturing did not increase as much in Pennsylvania from 2022 to 2024 as in other states on average.
Regional Disparities Across Local Workforce Areas: In construction, a considerable decline took place in the past year in the Southwest Corner, which may reflect, in part, the end of large-scale construction of Shell Oil’s Beaver Cracker plant. Construction employment trends in the Southeast and South Central Pennsylvania look much more like national trends, with growth ranging from 3 percent to nearly 13 percent. In manufacturing, no clear regional patterns exist. For example, Southwest Corner LWDA enjoyed 4.3 percent growth in manufacturing jobs, second only to the Lehigh Valley at 5.6 percent.
Variation in Regions, Sectors Highlight Need for Workforce Investments: The significant variation in sectoral employment trends by LWDA underscores the need for localized workforce development. Investments in apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, industry partnerships, on-the-job training, and other workforce training must respond to the distinct needs of local employers, in close collaboration with their local workforce development boards.
“Our latest Workforce Trends report underscores the need for Policymakers to work with local workforce boards and rely on them for local solutions and interventions that will drive job growth in their regions,” said Holubec. “We have seen significant variances between regions and sectors as we have studied job growth and workforce trends in Pennsylvania. A construction job in the southwest is dramatically different from a construction job in the northeast. We must make sure that all of our local workforce boards have the tools and flexibility to work with employers, train workers, and connect job seekers to opportunities that exist in their regions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.”
The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association (PWDA) serves as the voice of the Pennsylvania workforce development system and a clearinghouse for workforce development information statewide. Known for Pennsylvania’s premier annual workforce development gathering every spring, we provide development and capacity building opportunities to workforce development professionals, local workforce development boards (WDBs), and other stakeholders while continuing proactive advocacy efforts on behalf of Pennsylvania’s workforce development system. Learn more by visiting https://www.pawork.org